“The findings of previous operations show that paramilitary militias have committed very serious human rights violations as well as war crimes in their efforts to retake territories from the Islamic State [Daesh],” Eltahawy said.
“We have spoken to hundreds of people who had relatives missing, tortured and those who had been arbitrarily detained,” she said.
“We are calling on the Iraqi authorities to immediately put a stop to this and ensure that the civilians are protected from any revenge attacks,” the researcher said.
Talking about why such revenge attacks are taking place amid all the chaos, the researcher said that one of the main reasons for repetition of similar abuses is because very few people, if any, have actually been referred to justice and have been punished for crimes they committed.
“The Iraqi authorities need to ensure that anyone who has committed any violations in the past is removed from active duty,” Eltahawy said.
She further spoke about visiting the refugee camps near those towns where the Iraqi authorities have recently liberated areas from the jihadists.
According to her, the villagers complain about some militia have carried out revenge attacks against them. Some incidents include the villagers being tied to hoods of cars and driven around, beaten with iron rods across their faces and being locked in cages.
“The Iraqi Army has been handed over some of detainees that were held by the militias unlawfully. The army must be a lot more proactive to ensure that no militia such as these has the power to arrest and interrogate people,” Eltahawy said.
“Following the Amnesty International’s finding, the prime minister has committed in the past to carry out investigations into the reports of torture, disappearances and killings but we still need to see concrete steps being taken on the ground,” the researcher said.
The researcher also spoke about Mosul and the ongoing operation to liberate it from Daesh.
“The prime concern over there is that the Islamic State [Daesh] is using civilians as human shields. We have heard testimonies of families being separated because fighters take women and children along with them to protect themselves from air strikes, so there are a lot of harrowing stories of women and children being killed in cross fire,” Eltahawy said.
